The backpack was first discovered by an officer who arrived to the police station around 7:50 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The Boulder County Bomb Squad was then called to the scene, and took two x-rays of the backpack inside the police department, before removing it from the building. The bomb squad, Nederland Fire Protection District, and the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office worked together throughout the day to further investigate the backpack, which led to several road closures near the area. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the decision was made to detonate the device located inside the backpack. Law enforcement chose to do so in the plaza parking lot, because it was not safe to move the device any further. Around 1:45 a.m., neighbors in the area of the shopping center could feel their windows shaking from the blast. The FBI has now taken the lead role in working this case, after it was determined that the device was a homemade explosive.